Former India wicket-keeper Saba Karim has been asked to resign from the post of BCCI General Manager – Cricket Operations. The 52-year-old Karim, who played one Test and 34 ODIs for India, was appointed by the BCCI in December 2017. The Board has not issued a formal statement on the matter but it is learnt that it was not satisfied with Karim’s planning for domestic cricket.
“Yes, he has been asked to resign. One of the reasons for that is that he was not able to prepare any tangible action plan for domestic cricket (in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic),” a BCCI source told PTI. Domestic cricket is unlikely to start before December with the COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in the country.
If the IPL happens in September-November as is being speculated, domestic cricket cannot be played at the same time. The development comes after BCCI CEO Rahul Johri’s resignation was accepted earlier this month.
The Board’s Chief Financial Officer Santosh Rangnekar had also resigned last year after the new office-bearers, headed by president Sourav Ganguly, took charge.
Karim’s exit from the BCCI comes a week after the board let go of CEO Rahul Johri. Incidentally, both Johri and Karim assumed office at the same time in December 2017. The BCCI accepted a long-pending resignation from Johri (since December 2019) only last week.
There were earlier reports that during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, Karim’s position is under the scanner as there is a thought that he isn’t bringing too much to the table. Also, there have been too many issues that have remained unattended which fall under the GM Cricket Operations’ purview. And considering the economic situation, a tough call is likely to be taken soon.
Johri, who joined the BCCI in 2016, had earlier put in his papers after the Supreme Court appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) had made way for the Sourav Ganguly-led set-up the run the world’s richest cricket board.
But he was then asked to continue till the end of his contract, which was due to expire in 2021. However, once the BCCI got back its administration, Johri was increasingly marginalized with his domain of work, including matters related to ICC, being handled by secretary Jay Shah.
